The Two Types Of Cheese That Are Blue Zone-Approved - The Daily Meal (2024)

FAQs

The Two Types Of Cheese That Are Blue Zone-Approved - The Daily Meal? ›

Most foods eaten in the blue zones are plant-based and chock full of complex carbohydrates, but two types of cheese are consumed in these uber-healthy zones. Goat and sheep's milk are the preferred cheese varieties, as both are considered easier to digest and well-tolerated by those with dairy sensitivities.

Avoid dairy when possible. If cheese is a must, try ice-cube size portions of sheep (pecorino) or goat (feta) cheese to flavor foods. If you eat eggs, limit intake to three times a week.

The diet is mostly plant-based. The daily food intake of people living in Blue Zones is about 95% vegetables, fruits, grains, and legumes. They do not eat much meat, dairy, sugary foods or drinks, and processed food. Food is not the only reason that people in Blue Zones live long, healthy lives.

People in Blue Zones areas enjoy small amounts of products made from sheep and goat's milk— especially yogurt—a few times a week. To eat like a Blue Zones centenarian, try incorporating dairy products made from sheep and goat's milk in your diet, but limit the serving to the size of two ice cubes.

Goat and sheep's milk are the preferred varieties, and they're consumed in the Ikarian and Sardinian zones. The average Sardinian consumes about 15 pounds of goat and sheep's milk cheese annually. Pecorino is their go-to variety, and Ikarians opt for feta cheese as their staple animal-based product.

There are dozens of varieties of blue cheese. The four classics are French roquefort, English stilton, Italian gorgonzola, and Spanish cabrales. But today, blue cheese is made in many countries and in a growing variety of styles.

Consider roasting them as a side or filling them with other vegetables and grains, like quinoa and tomatoes. The blue zone way of eating is not a strict diet, but a lesson in how combining flavorful, inexpensive whole, plant-based foods can be tasty and contribute to your longevity.

Eggs are consumed in all five Blue Zones diets, where people eat them an average of two to four times per week. Cut down your consumption of cow's milk and dairy products such as cheese, cream, and butter. Try unsweetened soy, coconut, or almond milk as a dairy alternative.

People in Blue Zones areas eat very little bread, but when they do, they predominantly eat sourdough.

Breakfast in the blue zones looks vastly different than the standard American breakfast of eggs and bacon. Beans are a common breakfast staple in Costa Rica, while miso soup and rice are popular in Okinawa. In Loma Linda, centenarians often eat a hearty breakfast of oatmeal or a somewhat non-traditional tofu scramble.

Do Blue Zones drink coffee? ›

In addition to a daily cup of coffee, blue zones centenarians drink water, tea and wine. While coffee is often a hotly-debated health topic, it's shown to carry many health benefits. Most centenarians in blue zones regions drink up to two or three cups of black coffee per day!

Follow a mostly plant-based diet – Blue Zone centenarians follow a predominantly plant-based diet, eating 95-100% plant-based. They primarily eat a variety of in-season fresh vegetables and fruits, whole grains and beans.

Beans reign supreme in blue zones. They're the cornerstone of every longevity diet in the world: black beans in Nicoya; lentils, garbanzo, and white beans in the Mediterranean; and soybeans in Okinawa. People in the blue zones eat at least four times as many beans as Americans do on average.

Buettner says in the Blue Zones, people eat whole grains, corn, wheat, and white rice. Yes, white. He says white rice is prevalent in the Blue Zones of Costa Rica and Okinawa and in regions where people live much longer than we do, such as Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan.

Traditional cheeses made of sheep or goat's milk do feature in some Blue Zones regions of Italy and Greece, as well as other gut-healthy fermented foods like yogurt. These low-sugar, high-protein options can be a healthy part of the Blue Zones diet in moderation, included a few times per week.

It was unofficially known as “government cheddar,” and was rationed. This was phased out after the war ended, but US Government cheese goes on. When Ronald Reagan became President in 1981, he ordered the distribution of 560 million pounds (250,000 metric tons) of government-stockpiled cheese.

Blue cheese can be made from cow, goat, sheep or even buffalo milk, which may be raw or pasteurized, resulting in a wide variety of base cheeses before injection even occurs.

Eggs are consumed in all five Blue Zones diets, where people eat them an average of two to four times per week. Cut down your consumption of cow's milk and dairy products such as cheese, cream, and butter. Try unsweetened soy, coconut, or almond milk as a dairy alternative.

SNACK ON NUTS

A handful of nuts weighs about two ounces, the average amount that blue zones centenarians consume—almonds in Ikaria and Sardinia, pistachios in Nicoya, and all nuts with the Adventists. The Adventist Health Study 2 found that nut eaters outlive non–nut eaters by an average of two to three years.